Historic Formula One cars set for Donington spectacular

The FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship is an officially recognised championship for Formula One cars from 1966 through to 1985, an era famous for the Cosworth DFV engine, which powers many of the cars set to race at Donington.

A GRID full of historic Formula One machinery made famous by names including Mansell, Fittipaldi, Lauda and Stewart will thrill crowds at the forthcoming Masters Festival at Donington Park on 2-3 July.

The FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship is an officially recognised championship for Formula One cars from 1966 through to 1985, an era famous for the Cosworth DFV engine, which powers many of the cars set to race at Donington.

Series rules state that the cars must race in their period liveries, meaning many a memory from yesteryear will be recreated, and some classic paint schemes on show, including the legendary black and gold colours displayed by Lotus and the green and white of Williams’ early days in the sport.

The provisional entry includes Ashbourne racer Mike Wrigley, who will pilot a 1980 specification Williams FW07. Other cars of interest include an ex-James Hunt Hesketh from 1974, two other Williams machines, Tyrrells, Arrows and a rare French Ligier from 1981 driven by Rob Hall, who has a long association with the Donington Collections museum.

The event is a rare chance to see these priceless cars in action in a competitive environment and the cars will race on both days of the festival. The series harks back to the days when teams didn’t need to use wind tunnels or to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to be competitive, and each car has a distinctively different look to the other. All however, sound incredible, and the sight and sounds of a full grid of these cars hurtling down to Redgate on lap one will be an extremely impressive spectacle.

In addition to the Formula One machinery, there’s a great deal more racing action to enjoy, including a one hour race for the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship which will see a number of Le Mans-style sports cars from 1962 up to 1974 do battle. Expected cars include monsters from the likes of Porsche, Lola, Ferrari and Chevron.

More sports cars will go head to head on the Saturday afternoon with the Masters Three Hour race, for pre-1966 touring and GT cars. Further races include contests for the Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars, the CanAm 50 Interserie Challenge for sports prototypes and the Masters 70s Celebration for saloon cars from the decade that introduced flares, Star Wars and glam rock to the world.

Tickets for the Masters Festival at Donington Park on July 2-3 are available in advance for £15 per day or £25 for the full weekend, with free admission for children 13 and under. For more information, visit www.donington-park.co.uk